$100K BOND FOR MINING COMPANY’S EX-LEADER

Unico chief accused of securities fraud, obstructing justice

A federal judge set a $100,000 bond Wednesday for the former president of a San Diego-based mining company who is accused of securities fraud and obstructing justice by orchestrating a $28 million stock fraud scheme.

Marc Anthony Lopez, the former president and chief executive officer of Unico, was arrested Jan. 17. The indictment against him was unsealed Tuesday, and he appeared before Magistrate Judge L. Barbara Major on Wednesday for a bond hearing.

The charges against Lopez outline a complex stock fraud scheme that involved law firms in Florida and New York, and exploited a loophole in the federal securities act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The loophole in the securities law allows companies to issue unregistered shares of stock to settle some debts. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lopez would strike loan agreements with a variety of shell companies. All of the companies were owned by Lefkowitz and based in the tax haven of Turks and Caicos Islands.

Unico would then intentionally default on the loan. When that happened, the companies would file what prosecutors said were “sham lawsuits” against Unico in Florida. Soon after the suits were filed, sometimes within a few days, Lopez and Lefkowitz would draft a settlement agreement on terms that prosecutors said were “extremely favorable” to Lefkowitz.

The agreements called for Lopez to pay off the loan debt by issuing unregistered shares of stock that on average were seven times the amount of the loan the company owned.

Lefkowitz would then sell the stocks on the open market to unsuspecting buyers, and Lopez would get a kickback.

The new unregistered shares weakened the value of existing stock shares that were on the market by some $7 million.

Lopez is also accused of trying to block the probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission by not turning over emails, by lying to the agency under oath and redacting portions of emails. Prosecutors said he had two folders with emails he had not turned over, one labeled “Files deleted” and the second “Not Release to SEC Subpoena (Delete).”